Getting warm, though.
Of course, I am broaching a delicate subject, that may amount to just plain old nit-picking.
The removal of a pesky bed bug infestation (of which there are many stoking up stressors in cleanliness freaks around the country) is not a cup of tea.
What is a bed bug?
Nothing as cute and loveable as Herbie 'fer sure!
For starters, the pin-head-sized parasites, are part of a family of insects known as Cimicidae.
When the local pharmacist bandies about the commonly known term, he or she is usually drawing attention to one elusive "species" (Cimex lectularius) that prefers to chow down on human blood.
In contrast, insects in this family live by feeding exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals.
Delightful little creatures, eh?
From a life stage perspective, the pesky annoyers are fascinating critters to study.
The blood-thirsty pests shed their delicate-looking outer shell by way of a molting process (ecdysis) throughout myriad stages of intriguing development during the course of their lives.
Bed bugs must molt six times before becoming fertile adults.
Bed bugs, though not strictly nocturnal, are mainly active at night and are capable of feeding unnoticed on their hosts.
Ah-ha!
So, that's what was nipping at the butt, at the crack of dawn, one early spring morning.
Only a vigorous external treatment - usually a potent lotion applied directly to the skin - will rid a frustrated inductee!
There is one slim glimmer of hope if you believe in magic.
A rhyme we used to sing out at the top of our lungs when we were kids often did the trick.
Sleep tight
Don't let the bed bugs bite
If f they do,
Hit 'em with a shoe
'til they're black and blue
Largely eradicated as pests in the developed world in the early 1940s, bed bugs have been resurgent since about 1995.
Happy Hunting!
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